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Tour | Gear 2016

Charl Schwartzel put in a fantastic performance in the final round to claim the Valspar Championship title in a play-off win over Bill Haas and he had a new Nike putter to thank for it.

Not expected to be in shops until the middle of April, Nike’s Method Origin B1-01 putter proved crucial to Schwartzel’s success.

The South African gained almost a stroke on the field in the Strokes Gained – Putting stats and even holed this monster from 64 feet on the par-3 13th hole for birdie.

 
Also in his bag was a Nike MM Prototype 2-iron, the same one Rory McIlroy used to his advantage en-route to his Open win at Royal Liverpool in 2014, Nike Vapor Fly woods and a new 2016 RZN Platinum ball.

Valspar Championship - Final Round

Haas’ new driver

According to Golf World’s Mike Johnson (@EMichaelGW), eventual runner-up Bill Haas had a new driver in his bag this week.

Haas’ dad Jay took a trip to the Titleist tour truck on Wednesday to get a new Titleist 915D2 driver made up for Bill with a new Mitsubishi Tensei shaft in the B-2 SureFit hosel setting. It was also ¼-inch shorter than his previous driver.

It appeared to work for the six-time PGA Tour winner, too. He had been averaging 286 yards off the tee so far this year but his average for the week at the Palm Harbor event was 293.5 yards.

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Alert! Alert! New PXG clubs. Well, kind of…

The whole PXG fanfare had appeared to die down a little in recent weeks, but it was no secret that some new gear was coming. On Friday, PXG revealed its new high-tech black finish 0311 irons and wedges.

Featuring the same technology as the 0311 irons and wedges released earlier this year, there is one big difference: the Xtreme Dark finish.

According to PXG, the process is six times more expensive than traditional coatings and is also significantly more durable. Known as DLC, there is no known playing benefit of the finish – it just looks really cool!

You’ll have to be quick if you want them, though. They’re only available in limited quantities.

New PXG driver, too?

It appears so. PXG ‘Troop’ James Hahn was spotted on the range this week at the Valspar Championship trying out a new PXG Darkness driver. Hahn is currently using a nine-degree PXG 0811 driver with a Fuji Pro Tour Spec 65-x shaft. Don’t be surprised if you see him put this in the bag in the coming weeks.

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